How To Start A Christmas Village

by Brenda Taylor

We have a large bay window in our foyer. There is a shelf that is three feet wide and four feet deep in this area. During the summer I grow herbs in this space, but during the winter months it does not get enough light. I decided that this would be the perfect place to have my Christmas village. I place the fluffy white fabric on the shelf to create a look of snow for the scene. I place blocks of wood under the cloth to create hills and valleys for my Christmas village. I have collected a church, post office, general store, restaurant, school house and several houses.

Each year I purchase something new for the Christmas village to help create the scene of a small town at the turn of the century. Some years I buy additional people figurines to add to the scene and other years I have bought lampposts, ice skating rinks and a newsstand. This year I found a park set that has a bridge to place over a river, a gazebo and children making a snowman. This will create another area in my Christmas village. I do have Christmas trees, a Santa Claus area and a manager scene. I put these out when I set up the village the day after Thanksgiving and then I remove them after Christmas and leave the village scene up until the end of February.

The Christmas village is fun for adults and children to look at. Being located in the foyer, people look at it as they are removing their coats and boots. It is out of the way so it does not take up counter space and it is easily stored in one plastic container. This is a great idea to have in any size home because it is so compact.